Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
The newly constructed Ciputat overpass, in use since late last month, has failed to alleviate traffic jams near the Ciputat market, an official said.
Weekday market traffic remains chaotic because public minivans and city buses loiter in the road waiting for passengers.
Street vendors have taken over the pedestrian walkway in front of the market making the situation worse.
Ciputat district chief Chaerul Saleh said the overpass, which was expected to solve traffic problems around the market, had failed to do the job.
He said unruly public transportation drivers and street vendors were to blame for the daily turmoil.
"A bus terminal would be the only way to remedy the chaotic situation at the Ciputat market so the administration must accelerate the terminal construction plan because people need it right away," he said.
The head of the Tangerang regency transportation agency Deden Sugandhi said the regency administration faced problems trying to acquire land for the bus terminal.
He said the administration has been planning to build a bus terminal on four hectares of land in Cipayung subdistrict but it has managed to buy only 9,000 square meters of land since 2005.
"The price of land around the Ciputat market has skyrocketed but the administration's land procurement department continues to negotiate with residents in the hope they will lower their land prices," he said.
Earlier, he said, the administration had proposed to build an intercity bus terminal in Ciputat but, since the location was to be too close to the existing intercity terminal in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, the Transportation Ministry refused the regency's proposal.
The construction of the overpass began in May last year and cost the government Rp 94.9 billion. To build it, the government evicted dozens of traders near the market.
In 2005, the traders formed a group and asked for advocacy assistance from Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi). In a press release from June that year, the traders and Walhi stated the overpass would not solve the traffic problem.
"The congestion is due to the absence of a terminal, the unruly public transportation drivers and street vendors, the high number of public minivans and bad management of the market," the release stated.
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